“On behalf of Christine McVie’s family,it is with a heavy heart we are informing you of Christine’s death. She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning,Wednesday,November 30th 2022,following a short illness,” a statement on McVie’s Facebook page said.
Christine McVie performs at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena in 2015Pat Scala
“She was in the company of her family. We kindly ask that you respect the family’s privacy at this extremely painful time,and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being,and revered musician who was loved universally. RIP Christine McVie.”
Fleetwood Mac posted a statement saying there were no words to describe their sadness at McVie’s death.
“She was truly one of a kind,special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life,” the statement said.
Christine McVie (second from right) with Fleetwood Mac,from left,Mike Campbell,John McVie,Stevie Nicks,and Mick Fleetwood in 2019.AP
“We were so lucky to have a life with her.”
McVie wrote many of the band’s greatest hits includingDon’t Stop,Songbird,You Make Loving Fun,Everywhere andOh Daddy. Earlier this year she toldRolling Stone magazine,“I’m not one of these people that’s an extrovert. That said,I try to really be kind to people when they talk to me.”
In a handwritten note released via Twitter,Stevie Nicks said “A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975,had passed away.
“I didn’t even know she was ill until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London,I wanted to get to London - but we were told to wait… See you on the other side my love,Don’t Forget me - Always,Stevie”
She also included the lyrics to a song “that has been swirling around in my head over and over and over” by Haim,that she said she had hoped to get to sing to her.
Mick Fleetwood also said farewell on Twitter. “This is a day where my dear,sweet friend Christine McVie has taken to flight and left us earthbound folks to listen with bated breath to the sounds of that “song bird”…. Part of my heart has flown away today… I will miss everything about you Christine McVie. Memories abound … they fly to me.”
Neil Finn,who surprised the world by joining Fleetwood Mac in 2018,spoke about McVie on Facebook. “It is a very sad day. Christine McVie was a unique and soulful woman,supremely gifted songwriter and a warm and wonderful friend. I am so grateful to have shared some hours in her beautiful presence.”
Many referred to McVie as Songbird in their tributes,after one of her best-known songs. In an interview withPeople in 2017,she explained the origins of the moving piano ballad. “For some peculiar reason I wroteSongbird in half an hour. I’ve never been able to figure out how I did that. I woke up in the middle of the night and the song was there in my brain,chords lyrics melody,everything.
“I played it in my bedroom and didn’t have anything to tape it on. So I had to stay awake all night so I wouldn’t forget it and I came in the next morning to the studio and had[producer] Ken Callait put it on a 2-track. That was how the song ended up being. I don’t know where that came from. I wished it would happen more often,but it hasn’t.”
Bette Midler,Ron Sexsmith and Sheryl Crow also paid tribute to McVie on social media. When inducting Fleetwood Mac into the Rock’n’Roll Hall in 1998,Crow said,“Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks are,in my estimation,the first ladies of rock and roll. Christine McVie made it cool to be the piano player in the band.”
“She taught me that it’s not about being ‘pretty good for a chick.’ It’s about being great. She taught me that a driving rock song could be written on the piano,” Crow added.
Born Christine Perfect in northwest England on July 12,1943,she joined the band as a singer and pianist in 1970 after marrying John following a courtship of two weeks.
The band’s 1977 albumRumours,which sold more than 40 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums of all time,was recorded as the couple were divorcing.
Though the album was written amid emotional turmoil for the band, that while she “didn’t realise it at the time,” she was something of a rock amid the drama. “I was supposedly like the Mother Teresa who would hang out with everybody or just try and[keep] everything nice and cool and relaxed,” she recalled.
“But they were great people;they were great friends... Even though I am quite a peaceful person,I did enjoy that storm. Although it’s said that we fought a lot,we actually did spend a lot of our time laughing.”
With Reuters
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